Adopted March 23, 2002 by the Washington Town Meeting

This ordinance was drafted by a committee of average citizens, working at your request. It contains a lot of technical detail, with good reason: mining operators, citizens and town officials all benefit when the law is precise about what is allowed. The committee urges you to become familiar with the details of this ordinance. But here are some key points you'll definitely want to know about:

Mining permits will no longer run with the land. They may be renewed, however, after a maximum of 21 years. There is no limit on the number of renewals, provided the operation meets existing codes at the time of renewal and has fulfilled all of the terms of the original permit.

Setbacks and buffers are established to maintain the town's quiet rural character and to protect surface and ground water. In many cases these reasonable limits can be reduced with a neighbor's permission.

Ledge removal (typically referred to as quarrying) is limited to small operations. And deep quarrying is prohibited entirely.

Large-scale flat-rock mining (typically for landscape rocks, a growing business) is also limited, with one key exception: there is no volume restriction for operators who remove rocks from the surface of largely wooded lots.

This ordinance was decided by public vote at the March 23, 2002 Annual Town Meeting!
The vote was 172 YES to 119 NO done by secret ballot.